The top 5 Facebook pages across Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica have two things in common, they are international brands and in the food industry. As seen in the data above.
But what does this reveal about the companies, their advertising and the Caribbean audience in these islands?
Here are a few of our thoughts after looking at this data:
Foreign Brands vs Local Brands
There is loyalty online for foreign and well-known brands over local brands in each country. Especially, in the case of fast food. While we know there is a lot of support for local food shops, there is a particular loyalty to brands like KFC, in the region even before social media. Perhaps this is down to trust for the brand or foreign brands in general. Especially, because KFC has a brand recognised globally and has been a particularly successful and well-loved product in the Caribbean.
Brand Identity and Digital Marketing
This data isn’t reflective of sales, it is merely a reflection of their online presence and the following these companies have. These companies who gained brand loyalty before the introduction of social media have continued to build on this loyalty online through their regular ad campaigns across platforms. KFC and Pizza Hut have high digital marketing budgets that fund content from Google display ads to email marketing. This combination of prior brand loyalty to consistent digital marketing has kept them consistently top of mind for regional consumers regardless of market changes.
Public Health
Does this data perhaps reveal something about the public health of our region? The Caribbean has relatively high levels of diabetes, hypertension and obesity that are often attributed to “genetic, environmental factors and behavioural factors, such as physical inactivity and unhealthy diet.” These top 5 Facebook pages reflect certain aspects of an unhealthy diet and reveal what is attracting the attention of local users online.
Especially KFC and Pizza Hut, who regularly show their deals and new menu items through social media. The UK, which also has relatively high levels of comorbidities, has recently announced a new law that will ban “junk food advertising online and before 9 pm on TV from 2023.” Whether that will work remains to be seen, but there is something to be said about the correlation between fast-food advertisements and consumer purchasing behaviour.
Is there anything you take away from this data in particular? Besides the points we made? Tell us in the comments below, we would love to hear!
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